The world didn't shatter outward. It folded inward.
Sound vanished first. Then weight. Then direction. Ren felt himself pulled through something that wasn't space, wasn't darkness—just absence arranged into shape. His hand was still touching the figure. That was the only thing that stayed real.
Then everything snapped.
He stood somewhere else. No walls. No floor. No sky. Just fragments—endless pieces suspended in nothing, each one reflecting something different. Memories, scenes, shapes that didn't belong to him. Some were broken. Some were repeating. Some were watching.
Ren didn't move. "…So this is it," he said quietly. His voice didn't echo. It stayed close, like the space refused to carry it.
A presence answered anyway.
*"…internal layer accessed…"*
He turned. The figure was there. Clearer now—still not human, but closer. Its outline held, no flicker, no distortion.
"…You pulled me inside," Ren said.
*"…correction…"* A pause. *"…you opened access…"*
"…Same thing."
The fragments around them shifted slightly, reacting to the exchange. One drifted closer—showing a flash of the Ashen Tombs, the moment the door burst open, his first stable surge. It cracked. Then froze.
"…You're showing me my own memories," he said.
*"…partial…"*
"Then what's the rest?"
Silence. Then—
*"…not yours…"*
Ren's eyes narrowed. A fragment drifted closer. Different. Darker. He didn't touch it. He didn't need to. The moment it came within reach, it opened.
A vast, empty expanse. No ground. No light. Just drifting shards—and something beneath them. Not visible. Not defined. But there. Watching. Waiting. The same presence from before.
Ren's chest tightened. "…That thing again."
*"…origin layer…"*
The fragment sealed. Pulled away. Ren exhaled slowly. "…You keep showing me pieces, but not the whole thing."
*"…incomplete subject…"*
"…Yeah. I got that part."
His core pulsed—not painfully, not violently. Steady. Like it belonged here. Ren looked down at his hand. Faint lines of light spread beneath his skin, connecting the fractures instead of breaking them further.
"…You're not fixing it," he said.
*"…correct…"*
"…You're stabilizing it."
*"…progress acknowledged…"*
He let out a quiet breath. "…And if I don't cooperate?"
Silence. Then the fragments around him trembled—every single one.
*"…then collapse…"*
Ren glanced around. Not a threat. A fact. "…Figures." He looked back at the figure. "…So what do you actually want?"
A pause. Longer this time. Then—
*"…alignment with origin…"*
"…That thing below."
*"…correction…"* A faint shift. *"…no below…"*
"…Yeah. Everywhere. You said."
Silence again. Ren's jaw tightened slightly. "…And you think I'm the one who can do that?"
*"…not think…"*
The figure stepped closer. *"…confirmed path…"*
That was worse.
Ren let out a slow breath. "…Others tried."
*"…failed…"*
"…Why?"
No answer. But a fragment drifted forward—this one different. It opened before he could stop it. A figure. Not him. Someone else, standing where he stood now. Reaching forward. The same motion. The same contact. Then breaking—not exploding, not dying. Collapsing inward as their form shattered into fragments that never reformed.
Gone.
Ren's expression didn't change. "…So that's the cost."
*"…incomplete structures cannot sustain…"*
"…And I can?"
The figure didn't hesitate. *"…potential present…"*
Ren laughed quietly. Not amused. "…That's not reassuring."
He looked around at the fragments. At the endless pieces of something broken. "…This place," he said, "it's not just a ruin."
*"…correct…"*
"…It's a system."
No answer. But he felt it—the way everything reacted, observed, adjusted. "…And I'm inside it now."
*"…yes…"*
Ren exhaled slowly. Then he stepped forward. Closer to the figure. Lira wasn't here. No distractions. No interference. Just him. And this.
"…Then we do it properly," he said.
*"…define…"*
Ren raised his hand again. Not hesitant this time. Controlled. "…You don't force it." The fragments around him shifted, watching. "…You don't drag me into it." The space tightened slightly. "…You let me choose."
Silence. Long. Measured. Then the figure raised its hand again, matching him.
*"…accepted…"*
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly. "…Good."
Their hands met again. This time Ren didn't lose control. He felt it—the connection. Not overwhelming. Not breaking. Flowing. The fragments around them lit up one by one, not randomly. Sequentially. Like something was starting.
*"…alignment phase one…"*
The voice wasn't just in front of him anymore. It was everywhere—inside, outside, through him. Ren's core pulsed and held. For the first time, nothing leaked. Nothing broke. Everything stayed.
"…that's new," he muttered.
The light intensified. The fragments began to move—faster, closer, converging. Then pain. Sharp. Immediate. Ren's body tensed but he didn't pull back.
"…don't stop," he said through clenched teeth.
*"…process unstable…"*
"…I said don't stop."
The pressure increased. The light surged. The fragments closed in—then everything froze. Mid-motion. Mid-process. Ren's breath hitched.
"…What—"
The figure went completely still. Then for the first time, it looked away from him.
*"…external interference…"*
Ren felt it too. Something else had entered. Not here. But close enough. Heavy. Cold. Familiar. The presence from before—the one beneath everything. Watching. Waiting. Now closer.
"…it noticed," Ren said quietly.
*"…confirmation…"*
The space around them trembled, fragments cracking slightly at the edges. The process interrupted. Ren clenched his jaw. "…Can you finish this?"
*"…negative…"*
"…Of course."
The pressure grew. Closer. Closer. Like something pushing against the boundary of this place. Ren exhaled slowly. "…Then send me back."
*"…risk increased…"*
"…Do it."
A pause. Then—
*"…acknowledged…"*
The light surged once more—then collapsed. The fragments shattered apart.
And Ren fell.
Back into his body. Back into the Depths.
And whatever had noticed him was waiting.